Dec 31, 2016

In a holiday newsletter, Arby's gave a few hints about what's coming in 2017, including the return of the Smokehouse Pork Belly sandwich, which was available for a little over a month in 2016, as well as the Venison Sandwich.

Convenience store chain Sheetz looks to give you a holiday pick-me-up and will be doling out free cups of fresh-brewed coffee on Christmas Day this year as well as during New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

Dec 23, 2016

Starting today, Starbucks is running an end-of-the-year freebie where you can grab yourself a free Tall espresso beverage from 100 different locations each day, from 1 PM to 2 PM, through January 2, 2017 (excluding Christmas Day).

YakiYan is a Taiwanese chain that recently partnered with Panda Restaurant Group (best known for the Panda Express chain) to open their first location in the US. The new restaurant serves high-end Japanese barbecue featuring premium and locally-sourced beef in a dining experience that lasts roughly two hours.

Courtesy of Panda Restaurant Group, I was allowed to preview the new restaurant before its grand opening on Wednesday, December 21, 2016 at 5:00 PM.

Taco Bell's latest value foray sees the debut of new $1 Double Stacked Tacos on December 22, 2016. Like the Double Decker Taco, the new, limited-time tacos feature both a hard crunchy shell and a soft tortilla.

Chili's adds to their barbecue selection with new Smokehouse Combo meals. Along with the new meals, the casual dining chain has also added to their barbecue meat selection with new smoked bone-in barbecue chicken breast and new jalapeno-cheddar smoked sausage.